I fell out of love with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Call of Duty Zombies when it pivoted to open worlds and objective-based modes. Even during Cold War when the traditional round-based maps were still being supported, they were just character-less rehashes of ill-fitting campaign levels. I’ve not been properly excited by Zombies in nine years, but with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Black Ops 6, ✤the tide of guts and gore and awesome metal music is finally tur𓄧ning.

There is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:far too much to list here on what Treyarch and Raven is getting right this time around, which in itself is a great sign, but the best thing of all is that it’s inspired by Black Ops 3, the pinnacle of Zombies (argue with a wall). Just look at 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the return of Gobblegums, a charm♛ingly novel idea that hasn’t been seen sinღce 2015.

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They’re temporary power-ups you can buy from machines littered on each map, dispensed at random. Some are fun and “whimsical”, making every single zombie bright green, while others are useful in a pinch and can be saved, like the one that teleports you across the map. Then there areཧ the game changers that give you perks, or let you keep your weapons after death.

They brꦜeathed new life into a mode that desperately needed it, and balanced the moderate frivolity of the series. Black Ops 4 took things even further, swinging way too far into the silly, so Cold War overcompensated by grounding Zombies with a realistic story, operators, and a grittier aesthetic, completely losing what made it so special to begin with. I came here to kill zombies and chew bubblegum, but Treyarch hid all the gum.

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Zombies screenshot of player holding a new wonder weapon, giant jet engine

For contrast, the first map in Black Ops 6—Terminus—has a power-up that lets you punch zombies to death and another that turns you into a Mangler. Compared to the rest of CoD, Zombies was never a serious mode; its core cast was originally a group of walking, talking stereotypes. It was so unserious that Treyarch nearly axed it from World at War because it clashed with the g𝔍rounded tone of the series that captured the true horrors of the battlefield. In the end, it was hidden as an easter egg like a dirty little secret. Pummeling zombies with your bare hands is exactly the kind of thing that made this mode so iconic.

Cold War’s attemp✨t to bring Zombies to the same tone of the campaign and multiplayer never sat right with me, especially considering how silly the cosmetics have gotten in the newer games. Zombies, as gruelling as it could get, was always more lighthearted, seen in the clapping cymbal monkeys and the commercial sodas that turn you superhuman. Returning to that tone with the likes of overpowered gum is exactly what it needed after years of floundering, because Zombies can’t grow if it’s ashamed of itself.

The original mode that started back with Nacht der Untoten was an answer to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Gears of War’s Horde mode. It was all about hunkering down and surviving, but, like Horde, after so long, standing in the same corner and gunning down as many zombies as you can with diminishing results for hours gets boring, and so the mode evolved. That meant bigger mapsꦛ, easter eggs to complete, new ways of getting stronger to survive longer, and more interesting wonder weapons like tౠhe iconic Thunder Gun and Wunderwaffle.

Treyarch tried to reinvigorate the mode once again by making it open-world using battle royale maps, but it was a complete misstep. Round-based Zombies had vastly changed since its debut without shifting genres, keeping what made the mode so special and beloved year in and out—thankfully Black Ops 6 seems to get that. Treyarch is dedicated solely to round-based maps this time, and has described Terminus as the biggest and most ambitious to date. We have a boat vehicle you can travel on, new parasite enemies that splice zombies together into 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Resident Evil-style monstꩲers, and huge traps like🔯 the purple energy tank that sucks the undead into the air to eviscerate them.

Terminus also has the largest easter egg to date, which, after the likes of Moon, I can’t wait t🍰o get lost in. But the hidden away story mode in zombies has always been a nightmare to complete, often requiring a group of friends and very finicky, specific parameters to be met on top of the already difficult survival element. Cold War tried to streamline things, but it swung too far the other way and completely demystified the story by making it a cakewalk.

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Black Ops 6 is keeping the challenge, but offering a guided mode for those who need a helping hand—it’s the best of both worlds, and speaks to Treyarch’s understanding of what went well with Cold War and what didn’t. It’s pulling from the past 16 years of Zombies, reflecting in a way we haven’t seen before, and that can only mean good things. It means a humilit🐽y we rarely see from Call of Duty, an understanding that not everything has worked, and that change is needed to keep Zombies from falling to the wayside as its fans move on.

Early impressions sing Terminus’ praises, and the Black Ops 3 inspiration ca🍰n be felt just from watching footage alone. This isn’t Zombies for the sake of Zombies, adding the mode because it’s a Treyarch staple—it’s full of character again, even bringing back Richtofen as a villain. It has its spark back, and I can’t wait to dig in and uncover all of its secrets, pooling over the new lore, and connecting the dots while I try my best to climb to the highest possible round I can. It’s early days, but Black Ops 6 is shaping up to be the best Zombies we’ve had in a decade.

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Your Rating

168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Top Critic Avg: 83/100 Critics Rec: 92%
Released
October 25, 2024
ESRB
Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drug🀅s
Engine
IW 9.0

WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL

Forced to go rogue. Hunted from within. This is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

Developed by Treyarch and Raven, Black Ops 6 is a spy action thriller set in the early 90s, a period of transition and upheaval in global politics, characterized by the end of the Cold War and the rise of the United States as a single superpower. With a mind-bending narrative, and unbound by the rules of engagement, this is signature Black Ops.

The Black Ops 6 Campaign provides dynamic moment-to-moment gameplay that includes a variety of play spaces with blockbuster set pieces and action-packed moments, high-stakes heists, and cloak-and-dagger spy activity.

In a best-in-class Multiplayer experience, players will test their skills across 16 new maps at launch, including 12 core 6v6 maps and 4 Strike maps that can be played 2v2 or 6v6.

Black Ops 6 also marks the epic return of Round-Based Zombies, the fan-favorite mode where players will take down hordes of the un🅰dead in two brand-new maps at launch. Post-launch, players can look forwarꦿd to even more exciting maps and groundbreaking experiences dropping into both Multiplayer and Zombies.